The Bellelli Family
12:00 AM
 |
| Edgar Degas, The Bellelli Family, 1858-1867 |
His passing would explain why the family is clad in black. The feeling between the family also provokes tension. No one in the family directly looks or connects with each other. There are no loving gazes or any ounce of tenderness.
The mother stands astute and incredibly dignified. She stands connected to her two daughters; while the only man in the house sits with his back turned. Although the man is supposed to be the head of the house, it appears the woman has clearly taken control. She faces the same way as her dead father’s portrait to demonstrate her keeping the line going. One daughter clearly stands out as her mother’s child. Giovanna, sits alone in the middle of the room caught in her own thoughts. Her face is angled in the same fashion as her mothers. Unlike Giulia, who stands meagerly in her mother’s shadow and whose hair matches her shunned father’s, Giovanna has carved a place for herself in the family. The portrait speaks for itself and describes the family perfectly. The mother is a control freak. The father has no voice. The girls are split between their polar opposite parents. Each member of the family plays a key role in the melodrama that is the Bellelli family.
0 comments